"Al, over the years we\\'ve taken roles from one another. People have tried to compare us to one another, to pit us against each other and to tear us apart personally. I\\'ve never seen the comparison frankly. I\\'m clearly much taller, more the leading-man type. Honestly, you just may be the finest actor of our generation - with the possible exception of me." (talking about Al Pacino)

- Robert De Niro

08-27-2006, 12:24 PM

mafero

In Spanish exists the same problem: the word “bomba” is used either for “bomba de vacío” (vacuum pump) or just “bomba”, the explosive artifact.

This particular incident is silly. If this is true, the authorities who were looking at the object and inspected it should have understood that the guy was not referring to the prohibited item in question and should have questioned him further to eliminate the language limitations.

I was at La Guardia airport when a similar incident occurred several months ago: The passenger, a woman, was upset because TSA had to inspect her after setting off the the alarm when walking through the metal detector. So it was nothing related to her baggage. She said aloud: “Do I look like a terrorist to you?. Next time I come to the airport I’ll bring a bomb (“bomba”) with me.” She was obviously referring the the explosive device. Needless to say, she was arrested right on the spot and taken to the police station with two TSA screeners to testify on the incident. That makes sense because it was a threat, regardless the real intentions of that stupid woman.

Let me just tell you something. For hundreds, thousands of years, this kind of discussion would have been, in most places, impossible to have, or we would have been having it at the risk of our lives. Religion now comes to us in this smiley-face, ingratiating way, because it’s had to give so much ground, and because we know so much more. But you’ve no right to forget the way it behaved when it was strong, and when it really did believe that it had god on it’s side.